The Force, The Princess, and The Nuisances
by AlderannianPrincess
Summary: In which, Leia is a Jedi, Han is still skeptical, and the two of them are in for... An interesting ride when Leia makes a sort of startling discovery that will change their lives. NOT a cutesy-kid fic, mostly Leia focused. Closing in on the end of ROTJ. Written for, @Amilynh as the Summer HanLeia Secret Santa Fic Exchange
1. Discovery

"This can't be happening." Leia had said to herself, for the hundredth time in just the last half hour.

A confirmation of pregnancy, via a trip to the Rebel base, had been given a little over two days ago. The shock had worn off, replaced with a blinding fear, and an unrelenting nagging.

She'd never been in this particular predicament before, but, she had seen many women back home on Alderaan go through it.

That in itself, was enough to scare the potential joy right out of her. Being as busy as she was, it had taken her a bit longer than most women to realize her cycle had all but disappeared.

Even then, she was adamant for three standard weeks that it was simply due to the stress of her job.

After all, when she had decided to take Luke up on the offer to train her in the ways of the Jedi, she hadn't thought it would be nearly as hard as it was.

Then, when she had decided to join Luke, in rebuilding the Jedi Order, she had found that training young children was even more exhausting than having been a Padawan herself!

Six standard months had passed, since Leia had finished building her lightsaber, and yet she still recalled the annoyance and frustration with perfect clarity.

First, came finding the right Kyber crystal, which took a standard, month and a sweep of nearly every planetary system in the galaxy.

Luke had said she was being far too picky, but Leia refused to give up until she had found the one that called to her. Finally, in a last ditch effort Luke had taken Leia to Ilum.

The crystal caves had mostly been emptied out by then, but Leia ventured in anyway. Her deep chocolate eyes, sharp and attuned to any little movement.

She moved carefully, feeling along the walls of the caves with practiced ease. Until something in the Force caught her attention, it was practically humming.

She'd searched so many caves, and almost a million planets, she was beyond certain of what she was looking for and what it should feel like.

Yet, nothing had prepared her for this feeling, this certainty of knowing she had found it.

Vying for her attention among everything else, she reached out toward it, following the feeling back into one of the deepest recesses of the caves. She found one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.

A kyber crystal, the deepest shade of purple known to any species within the galaxy. It called to her, and she willfully followed its command. Freeing it from the wall, she held it tightly.

This was the one, she just knew it without a shadow of doubt. She returned to Luke, a triumphant grin claiming her face, as she held her new kyber crystal out for him to inspect.

"Its perfect, Luke! I can just feel it." Luke smiled appreciatively and nodded, leave it to Leia to have an absolute Force connection with her kyber crystal.

They made their way in silence back to the rebel base, where Han was waiting anxiously to hear from them. He still didn't fully believe in the Force, but seeing what Leia and Luke could do with it… Almost made him believe.

Their X-wing entered the hangar, Leia appearing only moments later, kyber crystal still held tight in hand. Han rushed forward to greet her, a curious smile claiming his face.

"I found it!" She exclaimed joyfully, holding out the crystal for her… for Han, to look at. They hadn't quite covered what they "were" yet. And her inner monologues clearly suffered a bit.

Han looked over the crystal carefully, of course, he hadn't the slightest clue what made this one so much different from the dozen or so, of other ones she and Luke had come across in the last month.

Yet, the way the Princess smiled, showed exactly what the difference was. This one, was hers. "That's great, Sweetheart!" Han tried to match Leia's level of enthusiasm, knowing how important this was to her.

And thus, began Leia's three week long journey, of assembling her lightsaber. Pulling out of her thoughts, she glanced across the room at said Jedi weapon, and smiled proudly.

It hardly ever left her side now, it was as if she and it were connected. "Oh, Force," Leia groaned out when a fresh wave of nausea knocked that thought right out of her mind.

She had been miserably sick near constantly for days now, which, given her current condition made all the sense in the galaxy.

Leia hadn't been able to tell at first, what the small but powerful presence was. Within its first few days of appearing in the Force, it had split and become two separate, but similar presences.

So, when Leia had discovered today, that she was in fact carrying Han Solo's… fetus, because even now her brain refused to acknowledge that it would be a baby.

She immediately asked if it was twins, the ultrasound they had performed did show two small gestational sacs.

The doctor did mention that they usually waited until 10 to 12 weeks to diagnose twins officially, but Leia had known before she had even recognized her situation.

Reaching out with the Force, Leia tried to feel for the growing nuisances, as she had come to "affectionately" call them.

She had yet to sense more than two powerful flickers in the Force, when it came to the fetuses. Considering they were no more than a month along, that made sense.

She had scheduled another appointment for two weeks out, that would give her plenty of time to talk things over with Han. And see how they both felt about the situation.

On the one hand, Leia felt perfectly healthy, albeit tired, a bit cranky, and she was virtually living in the fresher these days. However, the doctor had assured her, that so far things looked normal with the-

Her mind stopped suddenly, unable to connect the word pregnancy to this situation just yet. Because, while she felt fine, and supposedly that meant the fetuses were fine… A pregnancy would result in babies, babies that would grow.

Grow into what, exactly? With her as a mother, Vader's blood coursing through both her's and the fetuses veins… Monsters were the only surefire outcome.

If she didn't get attached, fought to keep herself separate from these incredibly Force-sensitive beings, then it wouldn't be nearly as traumatic when she and Han ultimately decided to do what was best, right?

She wouldn't get to see Han for another few days, he was away on a supply run, and she was busy training the younglings.

Which, unfortunately gave her plenty of time to overthink, and fret about her situation… "Whoa, Lei, you okay?" Leia's head snapped up, and instantly she regretted it.

A dizziness she had never quite felt before, overtook her, even as she tried to push herself up out of the half-kneeling position she was in against her bed.

There was Luke in the doorway, leaning out as if he could some how catch her if she fell. Her eyes slammed shut, breathing deeply she tried to steady herself.

"For kriff sake!" The Corellian curse word slipped from her lips easily, clearly learned from Han. After a long moment, she rushed past the worried stance of her brother.

Heading straight for the fresher, barely making it before the entirety of what little she managed to eat that morning reappeared. Luke was behind her in an instant, reaching out to sooth her in any way possible.

"Leia, I think you should head back to base. Clearly you need to be seen in the med-ward." Her head shook, her long braid gently smacking Luke's side as she stood up.

"Already have, its just a bug…" She knew she was lying, but she couldn't tell Luke before she even told Han. "I'll be fine, lets just get back to the training day."

Her twin looked at her uncertainly, and she wondered, fleetingly if the fetuses would one day share this strong Force bond too. If Luke already knew, and was simply playing along for her benefit.

He couldn't, she reminded herself, she'd been clear minding him all day. Putting up wall after wall of defense until she was certain he couldn't get to her well kept secret.

She brushed past him and grabbed her lightsaber, placing it carefully into its holster on her belt. Then turned back to look at him expectantly, he still held that suspicious look in his eyes but he knew better than to argue with her.


	2. Chapter 2: The Nusiances Strike Back

She closed her eyes, and activated her weapon, breathing evenly, slowly as she felt through the Force where Luke was going to try and strike next.

She could hear, and feel it hum, and in the next instant she had swept down to block Luke's swipe at her left calf. Chocolate hues blazed, as her eyes flashed open and she went for a counter strike.

The padawans all stared on in amazement, as they watched the demonstration being given by the two Masters. Leia had been fighting through, yet another horrible wave of nausea, throughout most of this mock battle.

She glanced up at her lightsaber, the deep amethyst calmed her, allowed her to push the morning sickness to the back of her mind. She was especially annoyed that these symptoms were only getting worse, she was fighting to remain normal and act as if nothing were different.

Luke had caught on to her momentary distraction, and took the chance to strike. He never aimed to injure, in fact he barely had grazed Leia's side with his lightsaber.

Kriffing Force, she instantly flinched away and tried to protect her abdomen, the exasperation at herself building infinitely quickly. She'd never given away a hint of weakness until this moment, and it made her exceedingly riled.

She caught Luke's eye, and nodded as if to say she was fine, straightened up and waited for him to resume a fighting stance. Momentarily she had forgotten all about the watching children, and focused in on her Force connection with Luke.

'I'm okay, keep going,' Luke stared her down, and she tried her best to throw up her defenses. 'You should go, Lei… Clearly this "bug" is affecting your ability to focus.'

'I said I'm fine!' The sheer force of her mental voice actually knocked Luke back a step or two, as she reignited her lightsaber and faced off with him. He nodded, reigniting his own weapon, but he took extra care with each swipe and shift of his blade toward the woman.

This left Leia more vexed than she had been in the first place, finally, she ended the mock battle herself and stomped off toward where they kept the X-wings. She decided right then and there, that she needed to tell Han about this.

She had to tell him in person, she'd comm Luke later and tell him she was taking a few days off. She didn't bother to pack anything, since most of her things were still either on the Falcon with Han, or in her quarters on base.

The trip from the rebuilt Jedi Temple, to where the rebellion kept its base was a few hours at best.

They were close to winning, and ending this war which meant soon the New Republic would be underway, and as such plans to spread the rebels throughout the galaxy were being made daily.

Her X-wing dropped out of hyperspace and began its descent to the hangar on the base, the closer she got, the more nervous she got. She could see Han, as she landed working on the Falcon as usual.

Which, wasn't at all what she expected to see, he was supposed to be on a supply run! She had left the Temple, in an attempt to get a day or two strictly to herself to think this through.

Her nervousness kept her from immediately exiting the X-wing, as she thought about how this conversation might go. Would he be excited? She hoped to the Force, he wouldn't be… She couldn't handle excitement when she was so miserable about this.

Taking a few extra moments to center herself, Leia made sure her saber was holstered to her belt properly. Double checked her reflection, pale and worn out, fantastic. Chocolate hued eyes watered for a moment, and she forced it away.

Now, was absolutely not the time to cry! Leia reminded herself, as she climbed from the X-wing and slowly made her way over to the Falcon. Chewbacca roared his hello, from the top of the Falcon, accepting Leia's quiet smile and went back to his work.

Han, upon hearing his co-pilot, appeared at the top of the ramp grinning excitedly as Leia made her way up to him. They shared a quick kiss, Han leading her into the galley, upon seeing the look on her face.

"Alright your worshipfulness, out with it. To what do I owe this visit?" Leia stared him down, trying to find a way to come up with what she wanted to say without connecting any emotional terms to it.

It was near impossible, to convey what she needed to without certain terms that she had been avoiding. So, with a sigh, and the practice of keeping a calm and controlled mask in place, Leia let the words rip into the air between them.

"I'm pregnant, its twins, about a month along." She settled her gaze on her boots, and tried to remember how to breathe. She heard Han's weight fall into one of the empty seats across from her, and a heavy groan leave him.

Followed by, "Oh… Sithspit!" She had to admit, that about summed up her feelings on the matter too. They had only been engaged three months, Han had given her a Corellian love stone, a jade green one, polished to perfection.

Of course, she had said yes. And so, their marriage was imminent, but they hadn't yet put any sort of time line on it. Given their situation, Alderaanian tradition, and even the High Command would insist they move things along quickly.

It wouldn't fair well for the last Princess of Alderaan to be discovered in this predicament without a husband to speak of. Leia, however, genuinely didn't care what anyone would think she would not be marrying Han just because  
she was carrying his spawn.

Her thoughts were interrupted then, with the sound of his voice, like gravel against a boot. It rumbled soothingly in his chest, "Okay, Princess." Her gaze snapped up to meet his, stunned, was an understatement when all she was met with, was a quiet, albeit nervous acceptance.

In that instant, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to yell, cry, smack that smirk right off his face, or kiss him. "Okay? I just gave you the biggest news ever, and all I get is okay!?"

Yelling it was, apparently although she wasn't even sure that had been her original intent, there it was. And then, the laser brain, had the nerve to laugh at her frustrated words.

"What point is there to freaking out? It's already happened, I'm sure you'll tell me they already have Force presences." She stopped short at his last comment, he was right. They did have very distinct presences in the Force already.

"So, you're… Alright with this?" She asked quietly, studying his face carefully for any tell that would say otherwise.

"Well, we're engaged, in love obviously, it seems like a logical next step. Unless, of course, you don't want to continue with it." His response was so kriffing rational, it made her angry.

Why wasn't he as affected emotionally by this as she was? He's not the hormonal one, her mind screamed at her. She scrubbed her right hand over her face exasperatedly, and sighed a bit.

"The doctor did say that everything looked healthy, aside from the ethical and emotional concerns… I see no reason not to continue on this path." Leia tried to make her response as measured as Han's, boy did she fail.

Her voice caught, and pitched on the words "not to continue," as if somehow the nuisances had already made up her mind for her. She was emotional, about the idea of them no longer existing.

And that, caught in her mind, as important. She had tried to put up a wall of indifference towards those little, flickering presences for weeks. Han's simple words, had made it come tumbling down in a rush.


	3. Chapter 3: The Fear From Within

The next four weeks, for Leia anyway, dragged by. Each day it seemed, the nuisances grew stronger and stronger. At one point, she specifically asked Luke why she could feel them in the Force, when they had only been weeks old.

His reply had been both cryptic, and annoying. "It's simple, Lei, our family has always been incredibly strong in the Force. Your children, already possess an astonishingly high Midichlorian count."

Leia had known, that both she and Luke possessed a Midichlorian count of 15,000. And that midi-chlorians lived within the cells of living beings, if her eight week old nuisances were already strong enough to be detected…

Fear spiked inside her, every time she thought about what such powerful beings could be. What if they already surpassed her own Midichlorian count? If they grew to be something she couldn't even comprehend controlling?

She found herself on the ground, head tucked into her drawn up knees talking herself through evening out her breathing. This was something, that unfortunately had become terribly common over the last few days.

Eyes fluttering closed, Leia stretched out with the Force, reaching for the source of her anxieties lately. She was still, quiet… to anyone on the outside of this experience it would look like she had merely zoned out.

She _saw_ them before she felt them, or rather, she saw what they would be. A beautiful little girl, eyes the color of Han's, hair braided into a little crown atop her head. She radiated peace, and love… called out to Leia in a way that made the woman want to fulfill the child's wish.

In the same instant, a boy, her complete spitting image appeared. He made Leia recoil, while his sister was the embodiment of peace and love… this child, felt like the very monster Leia had feared. A darkness surrounded him, as if he were shrouded in it.

He exuded indifference, he screamed of all the things Leia hated about Vader. This child, shocked the woman to her very core. Dark hair swept over his eyes, a gloomy look covering his pale face. Their names, both came to her easily, as if she had been born knowing them.

One, filled her heart with immeasurable joy, the other, left her feeling cold, frightened. She was pulled out of her Force-vision by Han's hands gently gripping her shoulders. "Sweetheart, you with me?"

His voice seemed to instantly wipe away the despair she felt upon recognizing the hell their son would unleash on their life… Potentially, upon the galaxy.

She hadn't even known they would be boy/girl twins until that moment, and yet, suddenly she knew it would just have to be that way. Of course it would, the galaxy loved to screw with her family… And since the balance had failed to turn either herself or Luke to the dark side.

 _ **Her son, would fall in their place**_. She glanced up at her fiancé, eyes wide the fear pooling in them so easily. Her head shook from side to side of its own accord. "I saw them Han," she whispered, her hand falling to her abdomen as if to emphasize who she was talking about.

His gaze followed her hand, and widened easily. She had expected that, Leia knew Han was still a bit freaked out about the fact that she was connected, through the Force with their… _children_.

She had finally thought it, she was _pregnant_ , and they would have _two children_. One to be the light of their life, the other to bring the Light to its knees. "You… Saw them?" His voice was quiet, almost as if he were in awe.

"She was beautiful Han, she has your eyes, my nose… She was so peaceful, and loving." Leia said, the loving lacing through her voice more and more with each word spoken. "She? A Princess, just like her mother." Han's voice said quickly, Leia could hear the smile in it.

"And… He, was, oh Force, Han! I'm giving birth to a monster!" It was all Leia could manage, she was angry, scared and so very hormonal. She was afraid any further words would bring on a round of tears she couldn't stop.

Han just watched her, letting her take all the time she needed to compose herself. Leia reached up and squeezed his hand gratefully, then continued. "He's surrounded by darkness Han, a soul sucking, terrible darkness. Something I can't protect him from. He's going to fall, to fix the balance."

Leia couldn't meet Han's eyes as she said this, her voice a broken whisper, practically begging him to understand how important it was that he took her seriously. This was her _worst_ nightmare, come true they would birth the downfall of the New Republic.

"We aren't going to let that happen, Sweetheart. We'll surround the kid with love and positive role models. He'll be okay." Han seemed so sure, but Leia had already felt the darkness taking him over, of course she couldn't exactly explain that to him.

So she just nodded, and finally glanced up to meet his gaze. "Aside from ushering in our downfall, what do you think?" Her question was soft, but it left no room for arguing. She knew their son was doomed, as sure as she knew that their daughter was to be the one to _try_ to save him.

"A two for one special, and they're one of each? I say we're pretty lucky." The joke had Leia scowling in an attempt _not_ to laugh, she wanted to be serious about this. "Leia, we've still got months before they even get here... Let's not worry about what _may_ happen when they're older. The most trouble they'll be able to cause for the first year is a lack of sleep."

She understood what he was saying, she should enjoy their children, try to bond with them... She knew though, deep down that she couldn't. Not when she could clearly see her son falling to the dark side before he was even born.


End file.
